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Title: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Miasma on August 09, 2007, 08:09:10 AM Futuristic Hindu comic epic? (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070809/wr_nm/sony_game_virgincomics_dc_1)
Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Venkman on August 09, 2007, 08:39:17 AM Ah, thought it was worthy a new thread, but you're right, probably not :)
Gamasutra has a writeup too (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15037). So what's the deal? The comic any good? Title: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Signe on August 10, 2007, 10:25:38 AM THIS JUST IN! (well, actually a day late in keeping with the thread topic)
Quote Press release SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT UNITES WITH VIRGIN COMICS TO CREATE ONLINE VIDEO GAME FRANCHISE Leading Game and Worldwide Comic Companies Join Forces to Develop and Publish Massively Multiplayer Online Video Game Based On the Popular Ramayan 3392 A.D. India-Mythology Inspired Comic Book Series SAN DIEGO, California & NEW YORK, New York (AUGUST 9, 2007) — Through a deal that joins two of the world’s most innovative entertainment brands, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), a global leader in the online gaming industry, is teaming up with Sir Richard Branson and Deepak Chopra’s Virgin Comics to bring the popular, India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book universe to life as an MMO video game initially for the PC. The deal was announced today by John Smedley, President of SOE and Sharad Devarajan, Co-Founder and CEO of Virgin Comics. “Ramayan has inspired the lives of millions of people through the ages. The re-imagining of this great ancient epic through the creativity of a game platform re-affirms the fact that Ramayan is one of the greatest stories ever told,” said Deepak Chopra. “The fact that the same creative team of young Indians that created the story will be involved in working with SOE’s game development team, is a testament to the innovative and mythic minds of these gifted Indian creators who will take a new generation to new frontiers across the seas of consciousness into new realms of mystery, magic, adventure, and transformation.” Through this exclusive multi-year, worldwide license agreement, SOE will develop and publish an MMO based on Ramayan’s story of mythological lore. Virgin Comics will serve as a creative consultant on the project. Virgin’s creative involvement with SOE’s game development team will be spearheaded by its President and head, Suresh Seetharaman, who has also overseen the development of the comic series. Also involved is acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, a co-founder of Virgin Comics. “Virgin Comics approached us with a portfolio of amazing comic properties based on Indian lore. We particularly love Ramayan 3392 A.D., as we feel Virgin Comics’ telling of The R®m®yana is particularly gripping, graphically brilliant and lends itself extremely well to an MMO,” said Smedley. “This a fantastic time for us to expand our games to include this culturally rich storyline and we are honored to do this with a diversified, creative and experienced company like Virgin Comics.” Virgin Comics’ Ramayan 3392 A.D., initially released as a comic in late 2006, re-imagines one of India’s greatest epics into a futuristic realm. Gotham Chopra, Virgin Comics’ Chief Creative Officer commented, “While many of the characters and settings remain familiar to the original lore, we never intended to re-tell the story, but essentially use it as the key inspiration for something fresh. What remains intact to our story are some of the core universal themes like duty, honor, sacrifice, and fraternity while also mining uniquely Indian ideas like karma (how action and consequence are linked) and the malleability of time itself. To bring all of these ideas into a game with SOE is just awesome.” Devarajan concluded, “In a world increasingly dominated with games influenced by a western Tolkien mythos, Ramayan will offer gamers a chance to experience a whole new universe of characters and archetypes derived from one of the oldest cultures on Earth. Our mission at Virgin Comics has always been to allow this generation of Indian youth to have a creative platform through which to speak to the world. Through this collaboration with the likeminded visionaries at SOE, our young Indian creators will make gaming history worldwide.” About Virgin Comics Virgin Comics is a character entertainment company creating original stories and epic myths for worldwide audiences. The company was founded in November 2005 by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Enterprises Ltd., alongside author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan, Gotham Chopra and Suresh Seetharaman. Virgin is developing new stories with acclaimed filmmakers, actors and musicians including John Woo, Guy Ritchie, Terry Gilliam, Dave Stewart, Ed Burns, Nicolas Cage, Duran Duran, Sachin Tendulkar and others. Feature films based on Virgin Comics’ characters are also in the works, including an animated feature The Secrets of the Seven Sounds and theatrical live action feature films, The Sadhu in development with actor Nicolas Cage as well as Gamekeeper in development with Warner Bros. In India, Virgin Comics recently established a partnership with Studio 18 to pioneer the Indian “teen-horror” genre and a separate partnership with UTV Motion Pictures to develop new Indian superheroes. Virgin Comics also formed a joint venture with NBC-Universal to create new science fiction properties for graphic novels and television with the Sci Fi Channel. www.VirginComics.com About Sony Online Entertainment Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known for its blockbuster franchises and hit titles including EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Champions of Norrath®, Untold Legends™, and PlanetSide®, as well as for developing Star Wars Galaxies™, SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on various entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with additional development studios in Los Angeles, CA, Austin, TX, Seattle, WA, Denver, CO, and Taiwan, SOE has an array of cutting-edge games in development. SOE is owned by Sony Pictures Digital and Sony Computer Entertainment America. SOE, the SOE logo, EverQuest and PlanetSide are registered trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC. Untold Legends is a trademark of Sony Online Entertainment LLC. Source (http://www.soepress.com/release.asp?i=137) Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: sam, an eggplant on August 10, 2007, 10:33:13 AM Makes sense to me. There's over a billion indians; their middle class is larger than the entire population of the USA. And they all seem to work in IT. We have entire industries targetting south korea, a substantially smaller population. Why not try to tap into india?
Also indian mythology is just as rich and epic (if not more so) as western swords n' sorcery, it's about time someone raped it for a videogame. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Sky on August 10, 2007, 11:30:05 AM South Korea is a modern economic powerhouse.
India, people still bathe in stream with cows shitting next to them. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: WayAbvPar on August 10, 2007, 11:31:58 AM India's middle class? What do they earn, $800 a year? Hard to squeeze in a $15 a month subscription on that kind of budget.
Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: schild on August 10, 2007, 11:33:00 AM Quote Also indian mythology is just as rich and epic (if not more so) as western swords n' sorcery, it's about time someone raped it for a videogame. There's not a goddamn thing "cool" about indian mythology though. That's why it's a bizarre choice. Kids still giggle about red dots and shit. Let alone fucking weird gods and shit from a fucking weird religion. I'm tolerable, but I'm willing to admit when shits just weird. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Amaron on August 10, 2007, 11:47:33 AM Also indian mythology is just as rich and epic (if not more so) as western swords n' sorcery, it's about time someone raped it for a videogame. Western "swords n' sorcery" mythology is neither rich or epic. Sword and sorcery is largely an invention of the late 20th century. What little came before that is mostly boring and dull as hell in it's original version. I don't know anything about Ramayan but I suspect unless it's a story that predates hinduism it's probably going to bore western audiences to tears. That's assuming that they stick to the subject matter of course. I find Christian mythology to be boring as hell too but several anime and manga loosely based on it have been fairly entertaining. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Sky on August 10, 2007, 12:01:16 PM There's not a goddamn thing "cool" about indian mythology though. There I completely disagree with you.Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: schild on August 10, 2007, 12:03:01 PM There's not a goddamn thing "cool" about indian mythology though. There I completely disagree with you.Edit: I don't know why I mentioned the hippy thing. >_> Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Teleku on August 10, 2007, 12:06:56 PM You're relatively new so I'll be nice, but when I say things like "stop being a broken record," I mean it. Does this mean your going to stop randomly popping in the WoW forum/threads to express how much you hate the game over and over again?:evil: Quote Western "swords n' sorcery" mythology is neither rich or epic. Sword and sorcery is largely an invention of the late 20th century. What little came before that is mostly boring and dull as hell in it's original version. I don't know anything about Ramayan but I suspect unless it's a story that predates hinduism it's probably going to bore western audiences to tears. That's assuming that they stick to the subject matter of course. I find Christian mythology to be boring as hell too but several anime and manga loosely based on it have been fairly entertaining. Modern sword and sorcery shit is based off old western mythology that dates back easily many hundreds of years. I happen to enjoy reading that stuff (and Christian mythology is the only thing I like about the religion, heh). Out of curiosity, is there any mythology/lore that you do like?I also agree with sky. India actually has some pretty awesome mythology (and some neat martial arts) that is largely unknown in western pop culture. With Japanese and Chinese culture/myth already big in pop culture here, I think its due for explosion, as it has enough of its own to match either of those. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Nerf on August 10, 2007, 12:16:51 PM http://youtube.com/watch?v=gq--g4zIuNA (http://youtube.com/watch?v=gq--g4zIuNA)
If the game plays anything like that, I'm fucking sold. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: sam, an eggplant on August 10, 2007, 12:21:13 PM By swords and sorcery I was flippantly referring to king arthur, beowulf, etc. Indian mythology is just as epic, we just haven't really been exposed to it.
Obviously india's middle class has less money than ours does, but there are SO much more of them that it's just insane. And their standard of living is rising rapidly; 8 years ago I paid bangalore DBAs 7 lakhs/yr (US$14k), now they make 18-24 lakhs (US$43k). And that's real money. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: schild on August 10, 2007, 12:30:11 PM I know, it's fantastic. The moment they meet up with he price of American tech folks, all the business comes back here and the country drops back into the stone age. Why are we talking about this anyway? It's a game based on a comic no one cares about. It's a bizarre choice for a license. It just happens to be made by Indian People. I'm about 90% sure it's not FOR indian people.
Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: sam, an eggplant on August 10, 2007, 12:31:43 PM You really think so? The indian gaming market is pretty much untapped, and PCs are the way to get to it. They all have PCs at work, but xbox360s are incredibly expensive luxuries.
Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: SnakeCharmer on August 10, 2007, 12:34:16 PM I know, it's fantastic. The moment they meet up with he price of American tech folks, all the business comes back here and the country drops back into the stone age. Why are we talking about this anyway? It's a game based on a comic no one cares about. It's a bizarre choice for a license. It just happens to be made by Indian People. I'm about 90% sure it's not FOR indian people. At least they'll be able to do their own tech and customer support. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: schild on August 10, 2007, 12:35:17 PM You really think so? The indian gaming market is pretty much untapped, and PCs are the way to get to it. They all have PCs at work, but xbox360s are incredibly expensive luxuries. I don't see Indians enjoying the personification of their gods IN A GAME. No, this definitely isn't for Indians. Quote At least they'll be able to do their own tech and customer support. For who? Sam just said the point I'd make - they have computers at WORK. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: SnakeCharmer on August 10, 2007, 12:39:41 PM OK, it was a joke that apparently didn't work.
Indians? Get it? An MMO taking place in India? Indian players? Tech support farmed out to India? Hence: they can perform their own tech / customer support? Gah. I'm just not very funny :( Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Nerf on August 10, 2007, 12:40:02 PM You really think so? The indian gaming market is pretty much untapped, and PCs are the way to get to it. They all have PCs at work, but xbox360s are incredibly expensive luxuries. Tech Support: Hello, how are you today, my name is bob. Nerf: Bob? Your name isn't fucking Bob. It's Hadji, and either way, I'm having some minor problems with the Dell I just ordered. Every time I try to launch minesweeper a midget jumps out and stabs me in the cock. Tech Support: Please to make sure the computer is turned on. Nerf: Jesus fucking christ, of course it's turned on, and everything is plugged in, its a software issue. Silence Nerf: Hello? Tech Support: OH YES, YOU LIKE THAT YOU FUCKING NOOB! TAKE A FUCKING SEAT! L2P!!! DING MOTHERFUCKERS! ALL YOUR LOOT IS MINE! Nerf: What the fuck? Tech Support: Please to be on hold while I research your issue. ... Tech Support: I'm sorry, but I cannot to help with this issue. *click* I think it's a great idea, lets take somthing that barely works as is and then distract them. Wicked awesome. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: schild on August 10, 2007, 12:41:20 PM Quote Every time I try to launch minesweeper a midget jumps out and stabs me in the cock. Oh shit, you too? Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Amaron on August 10, 2007, 12:48:41 PM Modern sword and sorcery shit is based off old western mythology that dates back easily many hundreds of years. I happen to enjoy reading that stuff (and Christian mythology is the only thing I like about the religion, heh). Out of curiosity, is there any mythology/lore that you do like? You are correct that it's based off the old stuff. My point was that the old stuff is neither rich or epic taken in the context of the way he was using those two words. Those elements are a mostly modern creation. In a literal sense there were epics but that depends on how broadly you define things. I would not include Roman/Greek/Etc as "swords and sorcery" mythology. Some of the old Viking/Norse stuff could fit into that mold but I don't really think it applies. The true basis for Swords and Sorcery has some epics of course but I don't think those would really apply to his meaning.I find some of the older Indian stuff to be interesting. Japanese stuff is also interesting but in it's original form I find it dull. I like Greek a lot as long as it's modernized but Norse/Viking stuff really turns me off because people almost always seem to use it as inspiration for depressing crap. In general though I despise all lore/mythology in it's original form. Such things are usually full of moral lessons which I abhor as barbaric. Not only that the characters are usually full of faults we don't accept in civilized humans (such as racism or some such). I don't possess the trait of being able to enjoy literature when it has protagonists whom I despise as humans sadly. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: HaemishM on August 10, 2007, 12:52:49 PM But does the midget breakdance before or after stabbing you in the cock?
Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: schild on August 10, 2007, 12:56:33 PM But does the midget breakdance before or after stabbing you in the cock? He reveals all the flags in minesweeper. He's a real son of a bitch. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Amaron on August 10, 2007, 12:56:41 PM But does the midget breakdance before or after stabbing you in the cock? I think that's a Vista feature. XP only has the cock stabbing. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Murgos on August 10, 2007, 01:10:28 PM In a literal sense there were epics but that depends on how broadly you define things. I would not include Roman/Greek/Etc as "swords and sorcery" mythology. Gimmie a minute to reply to this. I'm a bit busy killing Minotaurs and Cyclops's with my Necromancers animated skeleton pet in EQ2 to figure out where you are incorrect here is but I'm sure you are. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: schild on August 10, 2007, 01:12:45 PM Titan Quest says "Hey, I updated ur mythology."
Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Teleku on August 10, 2007, 01:19:00 PM In a literal sense there were epics but that depends on how broadly you define things. I would not include Roman/Greek/Etc as "swords and sorcery" mythology. Gimmie a minute to reply to this. I'm a bit busy killing Minotaurs and Cyclops's with my Necromancers animated skeleton pet in EQ2 to figure out where you are incorrect here is but I'm sure you are. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Amaron on August 10, 2007, 01:21:15 PM I'm a bit busy killing Minotaurs and Cyclops's with my Necromancers animated skeleton pet in EQ2 to figure out where you are incorrect here is but I'm sure you are. I'm not "correct" I was merely speaking of what I'd include. "Swords and Sorcery" isn't really a proper mythology grouping in the first place. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Murgos on August 10, 2007, 01:37:54 PM So your point is that if you exclude most of the major works of supernatural content influence from western history it has very few influential works of supernatural content?
I'm not sure what's more 'Swords and Sorcery" than Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: ajax34i on August 10, 2007, 01:51:09 PM The word "history" is probably what throws people off. It's all boring. Mythology, on the other hand, and works of fiction based on beliefs in the supernatural, are interesting, at least to me. I imagine they could take Indian mythology and mess and mix it up and come up with a nice epic story that is strange and different enough to interest people.
The Indians' reaction to it? I don't know; why do you imagine it's the same as a stereotyped Catholic's reaction to all these games with "good" witches and demons and dragons? Most westerners don't react like that, and have no trouble differentiating between a work of fiction based on a derived mythos, vs. what happened in history in the past, or their religion. But anyway, it doesn't even matter, since it's likely to just be a grind for XP so you could level up to max and raid something or other, and/or PVP. Yay for different raid boss models and different quest text? Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Trippy on August 10, 2007, 02:07:34 PM I could've sworn somebody posted about this yesterday.
Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Amaron on August 10, 2007, 02:21:46 PM I'm not sure what's more 'Swords and Sorcery" than Odysseus cutting the head off Medusa but, well, if it works for you. Odysseus is about as far from a Swords and Sorcery protagonist that I enjoy as you can get without putting me to sleep. So I'll admit that's probably shading my opinion. Plus most of the supernatural stuff in Greek is related to gods, titans, monsters etc with all the mortals being mostly at their whims which seems in contrast to modern western fantasy. Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: tmp on August 10, 2007, 03:32:37 PM Quote (wikipedia) Humans vs demons round 12345, go.The story primarily deals with the battles between the last kingdom of humans with demons (called Asuras) in a post-Apocalyptic world. The series' prime protagonist is the human prince Rama who, alongside his brothers, aim to bring down the demon-lord Ravan. Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: TripleDES on August 10, 2007, 03:43:07 PM The "3392 AD" thing suggested to me that it may finally be another scifi franchise, yet checking out the comic, it's just another retarded fantasy franchise. It's about as much scifi as Tabula Rasa, that is none.
Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Miasma on August 10, 2007, 05:29:56 PM I could've sworn somebody posted about this yesterday. I did! (http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=10563.msg331994#msg331994) I gave it all the attention it deserved too, four words and a question mark.Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Trippy on August 10, 2007, 05:36:59 PM Duh, I thought it was its own separate thread.
Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Daztur on August 10, 2007, 08:39:42 PM Quote What little came before that is mostly boring and dull as hell in it's original version. Somebody needs to read Egil's Saga:-Seven year old axe murderers --Characters recite poetry (about being drunk and vomiting) while being drunk and vomiting on people. -Main character is running away from his enemies with a chest of silver, realizes that that looks cowardly, turns around and sets their house on fire, bars the door from the outside and kills anyone that attempt to leave. Boring it is not... Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Baldrake on August 10, 2007, 09:09:03 PM This makes me want to go and dig out my old copy of Lord of Light (http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Light-Roger-Zelazny/dp/0060567236/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4788047-6709647?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186805094&sr=8-1). Zelazny's best book (and that's saying something.)
Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: pxib on August 10, 2007, 09:45:01 PM I have found a preliminary gameplay video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ2dXm2nxao).
Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Trippy on August 10, 2007, 09:55:36 PM That's a fake. Animation is too good to be an SOE game.
Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Nebu on August 10, 2007, 11:00:00 PM I just don't get the appeal of this whole concept.
Now if we were to take Romans... and put them in space... MONEY HATS! Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: WindupAtheist on August 10, 2007, 11:56:50 PM At least it's not more fucking HUMAN/ELF/DWARF/ORC horseshit. Now if they would only use some mechanic besides the usual class/level crap.
Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Baldrake on August 11, 2007, 05:07:10 AM Urvasi: can ne1 help with dancing macros?
Vishnu: busy with dharma quest Rāma: im doin jatayus Urvasi: lol fethers? Rāma: yeh fethers Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Venkman on August 11, 2007, 05:53:26 AM Now if we were to take Romans... and put them in space... MONEY HATS! Been there. (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/Empire_TV.jpg) :) Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Bokonon on August 11, 2007, 12:03:28 PM So your point is that if you exclude most of the major works of supernatural content influence from western history it has very few influential works of supernatural content? I'm not sure what's more 'Swords and Sorcery" than Odysseus cutting the head off Medusa but, well, if it works for you. That was Perseus, not Odysseus. Odysseus was a griefer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseus#Polyphemus). What can I say about F13? It's really my favorite website in the entire universe! I love the irreverent banter and sly wit these keyboard jockeys produce. And I especially love the staff, they're AWESOME. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Murgos on August 11, 2007, 01:30:25 PM So your point is that if you exclude most of the major works of supernatural content influence from western history it has very few influential works of supernatural content? I'm not sure what's more 'Swords and Sorcery" than Odysseus cutting the head off Medusa but, well, if it works for you. That was Perseus, not Odysseus. Odysseus was a griefer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseus#Polyphemus). What can I say about F13? It's really my favorite website in the entire universe! I love the irreverent banter and sly wit these keyboard jockeys produce. And I especially love the staff, they're AWESOME. Thanks. Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: sam, an eggplant on August 11, 2007, 01:50:45 PM Urvasi: can ne1 help with dancing macros? That's not how they actually talk. Real indglish is more like:Vishnu: busy with dharma quest Rāma: im doin jatayus Urvasi: lol fethers? Rāma: yeh fethers Neetu Kumar Unnikrishnan: the dancing macro is not in my knowledge. do u you have knowledge of the same? Chandra Chandrasekar: have u seen the dharma quest is long and so i return to my native place Sreenivasa Thiyagarajan: will u come back to jatayus and inflict viral fever on the same Manpreet Kunte: i have seen u are looking for feathers and the same i will update u Sreenivasa Thiyagarajan: feathers and the same? Manpreet Kunte: yes will u come back to me and look for feathers and the same? Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Azazel on August 11, 2007, 05:17:40 PM I just don't get the appeal of this whole concept. Now if we were to take Romans... and put them in space... MONEY HATS! Depends how it's done. And how much other shit you can throw in there. See: Warhammer: 40,000 Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Trippy on August 11, 2007, 05:41:55 PM I just don't get the appeal of this whole concept. Depends how it's done. And how much other shit you can throw in there.Now if we were to take Romans... and put them in space... MONEY HATS! See: Warhammer: 40,000 See: Imperator Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Azazel on August 11, 2007, 08:37:32 PM No, I knew about Imperator. I was just saying that it can work.
Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Der Helm on August 12, 2007, 02:50:12 AM edit: How the hell did my post get down here ? I could swear I made it hours ago. Title: Re: SOE to launch ... SOMETHING FIVE YEARS TOO LATE! Post by: Murgos on August 12, 2007, 06:51:11 AM Yes, I know. You were beaten to the punch. Guess I'll edit my post to keep yet another snarky comment out of the thread. :-) Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Grimwell on August 12, 2007, 11:42:34 PM Worlds most populous liberal democracy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India) - yeah who'd want to make games for those guys?
Huge market, growing economy, people not blowing themselves up to appease their God... nope - just not attractive. Ramayan 3392 A.D (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayan_3392_A.D.). - just a horrible IP that nobody knows about. Nobody! Indian mythological base (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana) for Ramayan 3392 A.D. is boring as Hell. I'd rather stab my eyes out than have to put up with this. Plus, the artwork is just ass (http://comicpants.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/alex_ross_ramayan_reborn.jpg) Honestly, I found out about this game and the relationship when the press release went out and I didn't think the world was going to end. I know, I know... I'm a shill and it is far easier for some folks to just assume that North America is the only market worth worrying about, and that my employer is just looking for more ways to dry hump the last few pennies out of your wallet. I'm sure things are much easier that way and by now many have forgotten that they are even wearing tinfoil hats. /popcorn :-D Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: schild on August 12, 2007, 11:45:37 PM As far as I knew, India wasn't a hotbed for gamers. More than that, I thought this game was being made for America. Also, as far as I know, like most of that sector of the world, piracy is godawful in India.
Basically, I don't understand what you're arguing. Well, I see the argument for the mythology. But from what I've read, Indian mythology has nothing on Greek or Roman or even Nordic myth. Edit: If it is being made for India, and I'm wrong, please don't introduce them to the motherfucking Diku, thx. The last thing I need to see is 20,000,000 indians programming a diku. Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Grimwell on August 12, 2007, 11:53:30 PM Based on the press release I don't think it's for the Indian sub-continent alone. That said, I really don't have a damn clue.
My real point was that the Indian mythology and the Ramayana itself is pretty damn interesting, and worth a game. Well that, and all the factors about India being the same as China, there is a lot of money to be made there - especially for the folks who introduce them to the game. Piracy, blah blah blah. MMO's are immune to piracy for the most part. Bootleg the software all you want, you still have to pay to play the game. Yes, in China there are bootleg servers, thanks to a huge volume of corruption at all levels, but there are also millions and millions of folks playing MMO's that seem commercially viable. India can't be all that different. Mostly though, I'm just calling folks out for dismissing a culture and mythology that they haven't put any effort into. I worked for an Indian family in the late 1990's and that got me to look at their culture with new eyes -- it's just as crazy as traditional Western Mythological roots, but also just as compelling for different reasons. A Sci-Fi retelling of the Ramayana is interesting enough on it's own. Seeing it go to a game is bonus. Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Grimwell on August 13, 2007, 12:10:54 AM Time to show off my Google-fu. Here is a PDF I just found and read that explores Online Gaming in India (http://www.iamai.in/Online%20Gaming%20in%20India-%20March%202007.pdf).
It's a very young market, with many needs as it grows, but it's also a very viable one. Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: schild on August 13, 2007, 12:16:16 AM When I read young market, I read: Too many poor people, let other people with excess cash invest, piracy will be fucking mad.
At least, with luxuries that are easily duplicated, I read that. Granted, MMOGs aren't exactly EASY to duplicate... like you said, it's bad in China. I expect it worse in India - with far more tech-savvy folks and access to datacenters. Edit: Remember Grim, I'm the first person to step in when people perceive SOE as doing wrong... but this? THIS? Man, this is as silly as Romans in Space. Sorry. No dice. They don't teach this shit in schools because it's boring. Plain and simple. If Indian mythology was interesting, it wouldn't have taken this long. Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Venkman on August 13, 2007, 05:14:30 AM A billion people. Even worst case scenario about the economics over there, I gotta imagine they can drum up a few hundred thousand to play an MMORPG. And who's to say it is or needs to be flat-fee based, or that it has just one single worldwide revenue model, given that it may not be just for one culture?
There's a lot of unknowns. The only important thing I read about this is the new theme. It's already pretty interesting. And while I agree I wouldn't want to see it be EQ1 Ramayan-style, DIKU works. Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Phred on August 13, 2007, 05:15:59 AM I just don't get the appeal of this whole concept. Now if we were to take Romans... and put them in space... MONEY HATS! Has anyone else read Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light? It's early Indian myth redone in a sf setting. :) Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Trippy on August 13, 2007, 05:38:50 AM Third post on this page.
Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Yegolev on August 13, 2007, 11:16:39 AM Urvasi: can ne1 help with dancing macros? That's not how they actually talk. Real indglish is more like:Vishnu: busy with dharma quest Rāma: im doin jatayus Urvasi: lol fethers? Rāma: yeh fethers Neetu Kumar Unnikrishnan: the dancing macro is not in my knowledge. do u you have knowledge of the same? Chandra Chandrasekar: have u seen the dharma quest is long and so i return to my native place Sreenivasa Thiyagarajan: will u come back to jatayus and inflict viral fever on the same Manpreet Kunte: i have seen u are looking for feathers and the same i will update u Sreenivasa Thiyagarajan: feathers and the same? Manpreet Kunte: yes will u come back to me and look for feathers and the same? I call it hinglish, but otherwise this is spot-on. Looks like my corporate IM logs. As for the viability of the IP, I haven't looked into it, but I figure if Smedley thinks it's a good idea then it has some legs. If I had a concern, it would be the ability of India to support the infrastructure for lots of people to play a MOG, but from what I have heard things are less third-world in the urban areas than, say, ten years ago. Still plenty of room for development, though. The comparison to China as a market is probably a good one, as far as I know. As for what's boring and what's not, the myths I know about are more boring than ones I have not, I expect, nevermind the whole elf/dwarf/hobbit thing. Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Murgos on August 13, 2007, 11:24:42 AM The comparison to China as a market is probably a good one, as far as I know. India is probably a much better market than China for launching a new venture ATM. Every time I read about business in China I come away with an impression that they've collectively watched one too many gangster movies. See, we're moving in here. And there ain't noting yous can do about it. See? </cagney> Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: sam, an eggplant on August 13, 2007, 11:42:39 AM There's no "probably" about it. China is unbelievably corrupt; if you try to launch a business there you will have major, major problems. Even with reasonably trustworthy natives assisting your efforts, they'll still lie, cheat, connive, and outright steal whenever possible. And it'll all be technically legal, and you'll have no recourse but to grin and bear it.
India, on the other hand, is a well structured democratic society. They have their issues, but they all speak english (to some extent) and there are commonalities in the culture. It's not easy, but you can work with them. China, not so much. Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: UnSub on August 14, 2007, 08:12:48 AM If you had the time and money, India, China or Russia are the three markets that have probably the largest growth potential and the internet infrastructure already in place (I'll look it up if I have to, but that's my gut instinct). Sure, they have a lot of development needed, but # people + capable infrastructure > mature MMO markets in terms of potential. And of those three, I'd take India for the lack of corruption - sure, religiously and politically conservative, but you aren't going to have the government and / or organised crime strong arming you.
Lots of poor people? Sure. Lots of rich people too, and an emerging middle class. Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Yegolev on August 14, 2007, 11:57:51 AM The reach of the Intertubes into India would be a bigger concern for me, along with the supporting infrastructure like power and such. But like I implied, I don't deal with our Indian offices anymore so things may have dramatically improved over the past few years. I'll say that we didn't and probably still don't have a hard network line to our office in Pune. We travel on wire to Singapore, then bounce off a satellite to get there. Thankfully we retired the one machine I had to support there. I would hope that major cities would be better connected, but who's to say?
Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: sam, an eggplant on August 14, 2007, 12:25:59 PM Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Bangalore are all pretty well connected. Outside of the cities they live in mud huts, which don't get DSL.
Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Amaron on August 14, 2007, 01:24:52 PM They need to change the name. Reading about the IP it sounds like they've removed a lot of the "uncool" portions but nobody is going to know that stuff has been removed when the name is like that.
I'm not really sure I agree with Schild that all of India's history is uninteresting but he's 100% right that it's widely regarded as "uncool" and when it's so uncool people are not likely to give it a chance. As far as I see it if they don't play up the sci-fi aspects in the US targeted advertising and play down the Indian angle it could suffer the same fate as Ryzom. That's only a guess but personally I'm still a little confused on why they'd use such an IP when so many better ones exist? Then again having good IP clearly doesn't work for SOE in the first place. Title: Re: SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book Post by: Mrbloodworth on August 15, 2007, 08:17:54 AM Well, being a partial student (very light student) of Indian philosophy, this intrigues me. Could be very fresh, or, it could be just another MMO with an Indian skin.
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